Elevator door operator



p l931- c. P. WALKER ET AL 1,323,962

ELEVATOR DOOR OPERATOR Filed Aug. 16, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 22, 1931. c. P. WALKER ET AL 1,823,962

ELEVATOR DOOR OPERATOR Filed Aug. 16, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 0 '7] l ig. I l )I', j

Patented Sept. 22, 1931 onanroan P. WALKER AND DANIEL A. LYONS, or Los ANGELES, oaLrronnrAfes SIGNORS TO 'oonsorrnernn stirrer o'onronerrron, or LOS Anon-Les, CALIFORNIA,

A oonronnrron or CALIFORNIA nrinveron' noon ornnaron Application filed August s, 1930. Serial No. 475,686.

1 Our invention relates to operators for 'closures and has particular reference to operators for opening and closing elevator doors. Elevator hoistways are provided with entrance openings ateach otthe floors served by the elevator car and each of these openings is closed by means of a suitable closure or door. These doors are relatively heavy, particularly since it is desirable that they shall be made fire-proof materials, which renders it diiticult toopen and close the same.

Also, the trafiic requirement in ordinary elevator installations is such that it is desirable to 'havethese doors opened and closed by macninery rather than to depend u pon the operator on the elevator car opening and closing them manually.

Various devices for opening and closing elevator hoistwaydoors have been'devlsed,

, one popular type comprising a door operating engine to be carried upon the elevator car to engage and open any of the hoistway doors adjacent which the car may be stopped.

These prior door operators of this character have the disadvantage, however, that the door operating engine and its mechainsm mustbe of relatively heavy" construction since the power for operating the door is to be trans mitted from the car to the doors at the entrance openings in the hoistway and in addition these prior types of door operators have alt-ways been constructed so" that the force exerted in opening the door has been from the car to the hoistway doors. Such constructions ar undesirable, first, because of the excessive rigidity of the construction required of the parts which must be employed, and second, because the thrust from the car must be transmitted to the hoistway walls tl'irougzh theguiding devices for the elevator car. that is. the force exerted must react through the guide and if the clearance .between shoes and rails isnot lrept small the .rir maybe moved when doors are operated.

It is, therefore, an object of our invention to provide a device toropening and closing elevator doors in which a singleiengine car-f ried upon the car may be: caused to operateany of the hoistway doors without exerting ture.

Another object of ourinvention is to pro-- vide an operator for elevator hoistway doors in which a power device may be carried upon the elevator carrto operate any one of a plurality of elevatordoors by exerting a force on the door and transmittingthe reactive force 'to'the elevator hoistway enclosure. r

Another ob ect of our invention is'to provide an operator for 'elevator closures in which a single operating engine ca-rried'upon theelevator car may be caused. to operate.

any of the doors of the hoistway l and may also be adapted to operate the car door or gate carried'upon the car. I

"Another object of our inventio'n isto pro vide a device for operatingelevator hoist way doors in which the doors will be positlvely opened by means of a torcetransmitted from the ear with a "reactive. force "trans-' mitted to the hoistway walls'andinwhich the doors may be manually opened independent of the position of the door operator.

- Another object of our invention is to pro-. vide an elevator door operator of thecharvide an elevator door operator in which an engine carried on the elevator car'may. be

caused to engage and operate the doors at any of the landings of the hoistway adjacent which the car maybe positioned and in which theoperation of the door engine to. doorclosing position will disengage the operator from the'door to permit the car to pass the doors without engagement therewith.

Another object of our invention is'to' provide an operatorfor elevator doors in which the power for operating the doors is trans mitted from the elevator car with the reactive eflect transmittedto the wallf of the hoistway without exerting a' force upon the elevator car, thus permitting a less rigid con a reactive force upon the elevator car struc stru'ction of the apparatus -"to"bei employed upon the car;

I Our inventionwill'be .described with ref-z;

loo

erence to the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a door construction in accordance with our inven- 5 tion. r V

Referring'to: the. drawings, we have illustrated in Figural. afragmentary portion of an elevator car 1- having provided thereon apair. of doorsections 2 andBwhich' together constitute a1olosure for the entrance opening to the elevator car 1, the particular style of: closure being represented as what is known. as: a. center opening car door; Aroundathe front'portion' of: the elevator car is aframework comprising upright members 41 and 5lanCl' at cross bar. 6 connectingthe upper ends ofth'e same, these membersbeing made ofany suitablestructural steel and being ordinarilyprovided upon. elevator carsfor the purpose of constitutlng azsupportingstructure for the elevator-car door.

a pair of cam: shoes Sand 10.-

The cam shOeQis-secured, as by. a'platell, 1 extending inwardly-therefrom to one arnrof a bell crank. 12:pivoted.at;13'to the crossbar l ltconstitnting-apart'of the frameS. A sec-- on'di'bell crank 15pivoted at 16 and secured to:.asecond plate 17; attached to the camishoe:

5 9, supports the: lower part; of:the.ca1n:shoe 9 andgthe interconnection; of: a, link; 18- between the inwardly extending arms of the bell cranks: 12. and-.15 insuresthe vertical align:- mentofithe'cam shoe?) inianyof its positions whether retracted; or extended;

Tlie'cam shoe9'i's spaced forwardly'of: the

elevator: car 1, to; suchposition as will.v permit,

it',.whene1 tended, toengage acam roller 19, one of whichis secured; to each. of the doors to be operated'by our dooroperator;

The inwardly extending end of; the cam slioeplate11 is connected ashymeans of a: olevis.QOandarodror bar 21-. to a' crank pin; 22' secured to rotatable cam123. The rotate; able cam; 23 is fixedly mounted upon a shaft:

Qatwhih :is I tOzlOQ? driven: by thed'oor operating-engine.

rtbuttingzthez face oft'he rotatable cam 23',

we have illustrated a roller 25 whiohiis seicured toflax d'ownw'ardly extending linlr'26 Mounted upon a frame 8 superimposed. upon the cross member 6, we haveillustrated pivoted as at 27 to the cross bar 14, and connected as at 28 to a rod or bar 29 which extends in a direction opposite to that of the bar 21 to connect, as by means of a clevis 30, to a plate 31 attachedto the cam. shoe 10 on the opposite side of the'elevator car 1.

The cam shoe-1O is supported in a manner similar to that described for the cam shoe 9, beingattached to a triangular plate 32which is pivoted at 33'to the right-handupright 3e constituting a part of the'f'rameS; The lower endof the. cam shoe 10 is secured as by means of a plate 35 to a second triangular plate 36 whichiis alsoipivoted as at 37 to the upright 34. A link 38 interconnects the inwardly extending p'ortionsof the triangular plates 32 and l36 to insure the vertical position. of the cam shoe lOIWhether extended: or retracted.

-The cam shoe 10, like-the cam shoe 9, isso located forwardly of the elevator car l: as tobe in a position to engage a cam roller. 39,

one of which is-secured to the hoistway wall.

adjacent each of the door openings to be oper ated' by'our operator.

Referring,particularly, toF-ig. 3, we have there illustrated the door operating engine which. comprises a: motor 40 mounted: upon a suitable supporting plate 4.1 connected in. any suitable manner to a reduction gear preferably of the Worm type. Tihegearing 42 is connectedto-rotate a shaft t3;which tends forwardly to connect, as by means of:

aishaft d-, to the shaftQttwhichsnpports the rotatable, cam- 23.

With the construction-thus far described. the operation ofthe motor 40 will cause the shafts 4C3, 44L and 24: to be-rotated to thereby rotate the rotatable cam 23' ineither a clockwise direction or acounter-clockwi'se direction,.depending upon. the direction in which the motor tOis operatedi For convenience in mounting the door operating engine, the supporting plate 41- may lie-attached as by means of angle irons and braces e '6 to the bifurcated cross'head 47 of the elevator-car,th1s cross head 47 being the usual channelrbeam construction to'which the supportmg cableslS for the elevator car are.

attached;

Refer-ring again to Fig.1, it will be observed that rotation of the rotatable cam will cause the cam roller 25 toride from the lowermost face of the cam to the'outermost face of. the cam to thereby force the rod to the right, thus projectingt-he cam shoe 10 to the right to engage and move the cam roller 39 also to the right, While at, the same time rotation of the rotatable cam 23" will cause the crank pin'22to move the rod or barQ'lto the left to project the cam shoe 9 to the left toengage the door-operating cam roller 19 and move, the roller 19 to the left. In order't'oinsurethat the movement of the cam shoes; 9" and 1 0 into engagement with their respective rollers to eXert'a force'upon the door opening devices, will not exert a reactive effect upon the elevator car so as to tend to swlng the elevator car, we have lllus- 4 which shifting is permissible in view of the sling suspension 49 with which the cam 23 is hung, It will be noted-that the relatively steep face of the cam is'provided to rapidly take up the clearance space normally allowed between cam shoe 9 and its roller 39. i

Referring again particularly to Fig. 3, the link 49 is illustrated as beingconnected to a shaft- 50 which extends through the structural steel members 14 which constitute the cross bar of the frame work, while asecond link 51 is'also secured to the shaft 50 and to the shaft 24 to constitute a support which will prevent a twisting movement of the'shaft 24 under the stress'of operating the doors.

However, since it is desirable that the cam-23 shall shift its position somewhat with reference to the axis of the main drive shaft 43, it

isnecessary that the shafting 43, 44 and 24' shall have interposed therein suitable universal joints or couplingswhich we have illustrated asbeing located at 52 and 53.

The operation of our devic-e'is apparent from a consideration of Fig. 2,in which we have illustrated one of the closuresforf the hatchway as comprising a'pair of door mem- 4cbers 54 and 55 suspended as by suitable hangers 56 and 57, respectively,';upon a hanger track 58 so that these doors mayslide to the left and right, respectively, to constitutewhat is known as a center opening hatchway door construction. The hanging track 58 is se cured to frame work uprights 59 and 60 se-' cured to the walls of the hoistway.

While the doors 54 and 55 may be opened manually, we have illustrated a system of levers and links which may be utilized to automatically open and close the doors as comprising a door opening bar 61 pivotally and slidably'connected to the door-54 as by means of a slide. 62 which engages a rod 63 secured in any suitable manner as by angle irons 64 to theouter edge of the door54.

A similar door operating bar 65 is secured to the outer edge of the right hand door 55 in a similar manner. v

The door operating bar 61 is pivotally connected as at 66 to a stationary cross bar 67 which connects theupper ends of the up rights 59 and 60 so that movement of'the bar 61 aroundits pivot ina clockwise, direction, that is a movement of the bar 61 to the left, will cause the door 54 to slide on its track to the left. 1

I The bar 65 inlike manner is connected as by means of apivotal connection 68 to a'second cross bar 69 which is secured to the uprights 59 and 60 at a position somewhat below the cross bar 67 so that movement of the bar 65 is in a counter-clockwise direction, that is, a movement of this bar to the right, will cause the door 55 to open. Since it is desirable that the door members 54 and 55shall open simultaneously, the door operating bars 61 and 65 may be interconnected by means of a rod or bar 70 which pivotally connects,

asat 71 and 72, with the bars 61 and 65', respectively; I It will be observed that the connecting bar or link 7 O connects with the door operating bar 61 Ma point somewhat below the pivot point of the bar 61, while the opposite end of theconnecting bar orlink 70' is connected to the bar 65 at a pointabove its pivot 68. Thus movement of the bar 61 to the left will exert a force through the connecting bar 7 O'to' cause the bar 65 to mo've to theright; By suitably selecting the distances between thepivots'66 and 71 and between the pivots 68 and 72, the doors may be caused to bemoved to their open positions and totheir closed positions in eX-' act synchronism' with each other.

jIn order to insure that the doors 54 and 55 will meetin the center of the door opening when closed, the length of theconnecting rod 70 may be made adjustable as by meansv ofa screw and lock-nutconnection 73 adjacent one or both of 'the connecting'clevises 71 and 72; 1

-- l/Ve-have illustrated means for-applying" power to open the doors 54 and 55 as constituting the cam roller 19, previouslydescribed as being in a position to be engaged the cam shoe 9, as being rotatably supported upon a cam lever. 74, pivotally secured as at 75 to the cross 'bar'69 rigidly "securedto the hoistway walls as by connection to the uprights 59 and 60.- .At a point between the pivot 75 and the roller-19 a link 7 6 is connectedto the lever 7 4, the opposite end of the link 7 6 pivotally connecting, as at 77 with the door operating bar 61. lVith'. this construction, it will be apparent that a movement-of the camroller 19 to the left under the influence of the cam shoe 9, will rotate thecam lever 74 to pull the bar 61 to the left and thus open the door 54, which by its interconnection-through the connecting rod 70 will also'cau'se the simultaneous opening ofthe door 55. v The doors 54 and 55 are normallyybiased-to a closed position bymeans of a relatively heavy spring 78, which is connected between the bar 61 and a suitable supporting. stud 7 9 which in turn is secured betweenthe cross bars 67 and 69. The spring 7 8 may be made ad ustable, 1f desired,.by connecting the same the same, which force must be applied from the idoor operator. With the employment of ,a-single doorengine which is to be carried upon the elevator car, itis necessary that the reactive force set up when the door engineoperates to open .the door, as in the system. illustrated by projecting the cam shoe 9 :to. the left to engage and operate the cam roller 19, shallbe absorbed.

Iniiprevions :types of door operators this reactive force has been absorbed by the ele- Vator car-, theforce being transmitted through the elevator car to its guide rails. and thence to the rigid construction of the 'hoistway walls. -Ho\veve1',i11-acloor operator constructed in accordance with ourinvention, the reactive force is not transmitted to the elevator car, but is instead transmitted to the opposite hoistwayv wall so 'thata rigid purchase may be obtained on the hoistway walls against which the thrust of the, door-operating cam shoemaybe taken. I

eha-ve illustrated a system for absorbing this reactive force or applying the same to the side of-thehoistway wall opposite to that upon which .the 'door operating cam roller 19 is monnted, by allowingthe cam shoe l0 onthe right hand side of the elevator car-.to engage its :roller 39'so that the force exertedis transmitted througha lever 82' to the upright ;59 towhichthe lever 82 is secured as by means of a pivotal connection'83. ;-Whi le it will bennderstood that it is unnecessary thatthezcam shoe shall engage a iollerora lever and may in fact impinge. directly zuponthe upright 59, we have utilized the rollerzand lever construction so that the reactive foree'may be employed for the purl poseofunlocking the doors, operating door and'interlocking switches, or other devices which may-beTequired to be actuated .at the instant of initiating the opening operation ofithe door. For this purpose, we have illustrated-the lever -82:as having a limited movement aboutits pivot :88:between a pair of stops 84: and 85, which engage opposite sides of'the lever 82 butmay be adjustedto limit the movement of'thelever 82 to the rightand kin-respectively. The extending arm 86 of thelever82 is illustrated as being connected aszbytmeans of a link 87 to a bell crank 88 which is pivotally secured in any suitable manner, as illustrated at 89, to the cross bar 69 sof'th'at the depending arm of-the bell crank 88;is-inaposition to engagea locking plate 90' secured to thehanger 57 forthe door 55.

i :In' the normal position of the lever8 2, to

wlhich it isibiased'by-means of aspring 91,

' thezbellFerank lever'88 will be in such position 39 by the cam shoe 10, will rotate the lever 82 through a sufficient distance to rock the bell crank 88 toa position where it will dis-.

engage the lockingplate 9O toallowthe doors to be operated. .An interlock switch 123 may be connected to the bell crank 88 to open the elevator motor circuit whenever the doors are unlocked.

With the construction thus far described, the movement of the elevator car 1 to the floor landing with which hoistway doors54 and are associated, will position the cam shoes 9-and 10, carried by the car,:in-the positions illustrated in Fig. 2. 7 I

Operation of the motor 40-to rotate the rotatable-cam 23 in a clockwise direction, will cause extension-of the cam shoe 10 by virtue of the riding of the cam rollers 25 from the lower face of the cam to its outermost face.

This operation will project the cam shoe 10 into engagement with the cam roller39- associated therewith and will cause a rocking of thelever 82 to unlock-the door. Atthis time the lever 82 will abut the-stop 84 so that no further movement of the cam-shoe 10 to the right is permitted. In-other words, the bar 29 which operates the cam shoe 10 is now abutting a fixed support secured rigidly to the hoistway wall-s. a a e V The cam 23:1nay-be so shaped and crank-pin so located that thereisnohorizontal movementof lever 31 until cam roller 25 .rides upon the high part of cam 23 and. the door is unlocked.

Simultaneously with the projection of the cam shoe 10, the rotation OLE-the rotatable cam 23 will move its crank arm 22 in a: clockwise direction'to move the rod-21 to the left to therebyproject thecam shoe 9 to a position to engage and move-its associated-cam roller 19 to the left, thus applying the necessary power to operate the door opening bars 61 and and open the doors. It will be observed that-the crank arm 22 on thecam23 will move through an arccomprising a little more than 180, starting from'a point just beyond the dead center and complete its movement at approximately dead center,thus insuring a. harmonicmotion which causes the doors to be started, slowly accelerated through the major part of their motion, and deceleratedthrough the latter part oftheir motion to open position, this being the most desirable operation of elevator doors, and

rendering unnecessarythe employment of re-.

crank arm 22 with respectto the/cam shoe 9 so that a sjlight movement is required before the crank arm starts its movement'to the'left,

permits insurance that the cam roller 25 will be actuated to cause an unlocking of the doors and the abutting of the cam shoe 10 against a rigid support before any force is exerted tending to open the doors. i I

1 When it is desired to close the doors, the motor 19 may be reversed to rotate the rotatable cam in a counter-clockwise direction to thereby retract thecam shoe 9, whereupon the spring 78 will movethe door operating levers 61 and to the right and left re-' spectivelyto close the doors. By suitable selection and adjustment of the force exerted by the spring 78, thecam roller 19 may be caused to continuously engage the cam shoe 9 during the entire closing movement, thus eliminating the necessity for providing dashpots or other retarding devices for stopping the doors when they arrive in their closed position since the continuousengagement of the roller 19 with the cam-9 insures that the force exerted by the doors in moving to their closed position shall be absorbed by the harmonic crank motion by the crank 22; When the doors have arrived in their closed position and the crank arm- 22 moves to its dead center position on the right hand side of the shaft 21, the cam roller 25 will enter upon the lower face of the cam 28 to withdraw the cam shoe 10, thus allowing the locking bell crank 88 to lock the doors, and when the rotatable cam is'in this position the cam shoes 9 and 10 are retracted to their normalpositions so as to provide ample clearance: between the shoes 9 and 10 and their respective rollers 19 and 39 so that thecar'may move away from the floor and may pass other floors without engaging the cam rollers 19 and 39 associated therewith.

It will be observed that the function of the spring 7 8 is primarily to insure closing of the door andto insure that the door will be held closed except at such times as the cam shoes 9 and 10 are operated to open the same. In addition, however, the spring performs two important functions; first, during the opening movement of the door the spring is building up a force tending to close the door and assists therefore in retarding the door asit approaches its full open position, the spring tension at that time being at its greatest second, during the closing movement of the door the spring acts to accelerate the door toward its closing position, at which time the spring tension is at its greatest and hence, its accelerating effect will be greatest. However, after the door has been accelerated the momentum of the door is almost sufficient to carry the doors through to their closed position and the spring tension required during the latter part of the movement need be but small. Hence, the additional advantage is achieved that a comparativelylight spring may be employed for thisrpurpose so that i should the doors strike persons who may be passing into or out of the elevator during the closing movement of; the doors will receive but a slight shock and will not be injured, as would be the case if a heavy spring force were required for. the entire closing movement.-

Theretracti'on of the cam shoes '-10'and 11 as hereinbefore stated, provides the necessary clearance to allow the elevator car to pass hoistway doors and floors at which the car is not to stop, without contacting with the rollers 19 and 39 at those doors. In view of the fact that the rotatable cam 23 is mounted to float with reference to the carit may occur that the cam-23 would assume such position that one or the other of the cam shoes might be in a position to engage the rollers 19 or 30 at a time when it was not desired, and for this reason we have provided a centering device for insuring the return of the floating cam 23 to its central position, thus insuring clearance of both of the cam shoes 9 "and 10. This centering device is illustrated in Figure 1 as comprising a p'air'of pivoted levers 110 and 111 pivoted at their lowermost ends upon the same member to which the cam supporting link 51 is pivoted,- the upper ends of the two pivoted levers 110 and 111 being connected together as by means of a rod 112 passingthroughboth of the levers and having springs 113 and 11 1 normally tending to keepthe levers close to each other and in engagement with a stationary stop 115. The link J51:may "be provided with an upstanding projection 116 which enters be- 1 tween the levers and '111, so that displacement of the cam 23 and the link 51 to either the right or left will engage and operate one of the levers 110 or 111 and compress the spring associated therewith. Upon retraction of the cam shoes 9 and 10, thus relieving the-cam 23 to its displacing force, the compressed spring 113 or114 will press the associated lever to restore the cam to its central position. v v v While the force of gravity should be suffioient to cause retraction of the cam shoe-10 when the rotatable cam 28 is in its normal retracting position, we prefer to make the retraction of the cam shoe' lO more positive by providing a tensioning device biasing the cam roller 25 toward the cam 23. This device is illustrated in-Figure 1 as comprising aneye-bolt 117 connectedas at 118 to the link S51, and passing through the link'26,

having a spring 119 thereon under compres-' sion, constantly exerting'a force tending to move the-link 26 toward the cam 23.

It will-be further observedthat by reason of the floating mounting of the cam 23 the lateral position of the car with respect to the hoistway doors at the time the car arrives at the landing is not material since if the car should by any reason have a sideways motion, this motion is not transmitted to the door operating cam, shoes 9 and 10 and so d m not 5 connected to suitable door opening: levers aifecttheoperation of the doors in any way. It will; be readily apparent that the selection of the distance between the shaft 24 and the'point onthe face of the cam 23 at which the crank pin 22' is located may be suitably selected to'determine the length of throw of the; door operating cam shoe 9, while the selection of the configuration of the face of the cam 23 may also be suitably selected to give any desired speed of operation to the cam shoe 10 and likewise any desiredamount of throwfor this cam shoe. Thus the preselection of the location ofthe crank pin and theconfiguration of the face of'the cam once determine for the particular door installation to which it, is to be applied, requires thereafter little or no adjustment.

'M'oreover, since the speed of operation of the doors is determined only bythe speed of rotation of the cam: 23. the selection of a motor of the desired speed or the selection of gearing to produce the desired speed allows considerable latitude for providing a door operating speed of any desired value. Moreover, by utilizing a motor having a constant speed. characteristic the-door operating speed which has been selected will be maintained substantially constant, regardless of. the variation in friction of several doors which are-tohe operated, by the operator.

The utilization of the crank arm motion for operatingthe cam shoe 10 allows the for overrunning of the=cam without altering the position-of. the cam shoe 10. Thus, the motor 10 may be provided with a suitable limit switch to insure its stoppage after the doors have been completely opened or completely closed, which switch does not require extremely accurate adjustment for accurate results. Such limit switch is illustrated in Figure 8 as comprising a switch 120 mounted upon the gear case 42' in a position to be engaged by a limit switch pin 121 secured; to

gear 122 mounted upon the shaft 43.

While we haveillustrated but a single installation of doors 54 and 55 and their-associated operating mechanism, it will-be under stood that thedoors andoperating apparatus will be duplicated for each of the floors which are served by the car.

, If the elevator car isequipped with a cardoor or a. closure carrled-thereby for closlnga the entrance opening to the cab, such car gate may also be operatedby the samedoor operating englne.

Referring to Figure 1, we haveillust-rated the car door as comprising the sections 2 and 3 necessary to constitute a center opening door. The sections of the car door are 92 and 93in the usual manner'with which door operating levers are so connected. but are not illustrated. in the drawings. Lever 92 is illustrated as being pivoted as at 94'to a plate 95 which extends upwardly from the cross bar 6 connecting the operating frame members 4 and 5, while lever 93 is also pivoted as at 96- to the cross bar 6. In order that the. gate sections 2 and 3' will move to their. open and closed positions synchronously, we have illustrated a cross connecting link 98' similar to the link 70 described with reference to the hoistway doors, which connects to thelever 92 at its pivot andto the lever 93 above its pivot, the distances between thetwo-connections to the pivots being'suitably selectedto achieve the synchronous oporation ofthe two doors.

For the purpose of applying power to the levers 92 and 93 to open thedoors, we have illustrated. the cross connecting link 98 as being pivotallyconnected at a point 99 to a lever 100 which extends upwardly into engaging relation with asecond cam 101 which isto be driven by the motor 40;

The upperend of the-leverlOO-isprovided with a cam engaging roller 102'to reduce the friction between thecam 101 and the lever 1.00. lVhiie the lever 100 may be mounted in any suitable manner, we have'illustrated the 35 same-as beingpivoted at it-s'center 103 to a framework 104. which extends between the upper cross'member 8 and the lower cross member'G, constituting the supporting-frame forthe door operating structure;

7e have alsoillustrated a means for nor mally maintaining the car gate in closed position as comprising "a spring 105 con nected as at 106 to the lever 92 at a point below its pivot 9 1,.the other end of the spring L 105 being connected as at 107 to frame 104. By securing the spring 105-, as by means'of anreye-bolt 108, thetensi on upon this spring may be adjusted to insure the proper amount of force necessary to maintain the doors in closed position and to govern the closing action of these gates.

The function of the spring 105 is similar in all respects to the function of the spring 78 described with reference to the hoistway door operating stnucture, that is, spring 105 performs the function of biasing the car doors passing the car gate to closed position and acts during the opening movement of the: car gate to decelerate the gate when it arrives at the open position and in like manner acts to accelerate the gates when they are started upon their" closing movement.

If desired the spring 105 may be made of comparatively light construction and an auxiliary spring 124'1nay be provided for assisting-the spring'105 to perform its decelerating and accelerating functions. The spring 124-is illustrated as being mounted upon an eye-bolt 125', one end ofwhichis secured to the gate operating bar 92, the'other endof which passes loosely throughan abutment 126 secured toth'e structural cross member force of this spring to that-of the spring 105:

to assist in the deceleration operation. similar auxiliary spring construction may be provided for the hoistway doors to assistthe spring 78 to perform its'accelerating and decelerating functions if desired.

- Referring particularly, to FigureB, it will be observed that the car door operating cam 101 is mounted upon a shaft 128 whichis secured to a gear-129. The gear 129 is in turn engaged by the cured to the shaft 43 which is used to drive the hoistwa-y door operating cam 23.

lVith this constructiomit will be apparent that the motor 10 will simultaneously-rotate the hoistway door. operating cam 23 and the door operating cam 101 and by selecting the shape of the cam 101 and the ratio of gears 129 and 122, the hoistway doors to the car gate may be caused to move tot-heir open and closed positions in exact synchronism with each other. y r i In Figure 4 we have illustrated a modified. form of our door operating device in which the reactive eil ect of opening the doors is self-' absorbed by the doors without transmitting this reaction to the elevator car structure. Referring particularly toFigure 4, we have illustrated a rotatable member 23 secured to a shaft 2 1 and corresponding in substantially all respects with the rotatable cam illustrated withjthe form of our device described in-Figure 1. At diametricallyoppo site points on the rotatable member 23 we have illustrated crank pins 22 and 22 to which are respectively secured links 21 and 21. The link 21 is connected to a cam shoe 9 similar in all respects to'the cam shoe described with reference to Figure 1, while'a cam shoe 9 is similarly connectedto the link 21". It willbe apparent that the structure just described is to be carried by the car and is to be operated by a suitable motor in the manner described with reference to the'modification we mention shown in Figure 1. It will. a-lso be understoodthat the rotatable member 23 is floatingly mounted upon the elevator car'as described withreference to Figure 1.. v p g In Figure 1 we have illustrated a center opening door structure comprising door. panels 5 1 and each of which is connected as-by means of door opening barstil and with suitable pivots 66 and 68, respectively. The, door operating bar 61 is illustrated as being connected to a cam lever74:located at such position-as to be engaged bythe camshoe 9" when that shoe is exte11ded,whi-le the door operating bar65 is in like manner secured to a cam lever 74 engageable and operable by cam shoe '9. The operation ofthis modification of our device is as follows: 7 The elevator car upon arriving at a posi tion adjacent the floor represented by the doors 54 and 55 will havethedoor operating motor energized'to rotate the rotatable member 23 to thereby expand the cam shoe 9 and 9", eachzof which will engage and move its associated cam lever 74: and Tl-to open the associated door panel. The doorpanels may be interconnected as by means of linkage 70 to insure the synchronous opening'of the two sections of the door. In the modifica tion thus described the reactive effect of open-, ing either panel of the door is taken up by. the force required to open the other door panel- V Referring particularly to Figure 5, we have illustrated the adaptation of the door operating device illustrated in Figures 1 to 3 to a side. opening elevator hoistway door. The doorillustrated comprises a pair of panels 131 and 132 each mounted for movement by means of suitable hanger members 133. The type of side opening door illustrated is known as the two-spaced door iniwhich thepanel 131 is to-be moved: at twice the speed of the panel 132 so that the two panels arrive in their open positionat the sam'efinstant. The panel 131is connected as bymeans of a door operating bar 134-to a stationary-pivot135 and has connected thereto a cam lever .74

similar in all respects to cam 74 described;

with reference to Figure 1 engageable byaj cam shoe 9 similar to the shoe. described in Figure 1.- e The door operating bar 513 1 is connected to the panel 132 by means of a link 136 which engages the bar 134 at a pointintermediate its pivot 135v audits point of at tachment to the panel 131. I t

l-Ve have also illustrated in Figure 5 a door locking device similar to that described with reference to F igures 1 2 and 3 as comprising a door latch 137 mounted upon a bellcrank 138 which in turn is connected by a link 139 to a cam lever 1 40 which is engageable by a cam shoe 10 on the operating deviceto be carried by the car.

The operationof the form of ourinvention as illustrated in Figure 5 is as follows:

and movement of the cam lever 74 pulls the door'operating bar 134 to the left to open the panel 131 andby reason of its connection with the-panel 132, the panel 132 is also moved. By suitably selecting the lengths of the re spective portions of the door operating lever 13lying between the post 185 and the point of attachment of the link 136', the two panels may be operated at such speeds as to cause them to arrive-at their open and closed positions simultaneously. 7

While we have described the preferred embodiment of our invention, we do not desire to be limited to any of the details shown-or described herein, except as definedinthe ap pended claims.

1. In combination with adoor for an elevatorhoistvvay, an elevator car, and a door operator carriedby said car including means for" engaging said doorto move the same, means for engaging saidhoistway and power means for moving said door engaging means and said hoistway engaging means relative to each-other;

2. In combination with a door for an elevator hoistway, an elevator car, and a door operator carried by said car including cam means for engaging said door to move the same, cam means-for engaging said hoistway and power'means'formoving said two cam meansrelative' to each other.

-13; In combination with a door for'an'elevator hoistway, an elevator car, a door operator" carried by said car including cam means 7 for engaging-said door to niove the same, cam

means for engaging said hoistway, power actuated means formovmg said two cam means relativeto each other, and means mounting saidpower actuated means for free movement relative to said car.

4'. In C'OmbIIISLtIOII' with a: door for an elevator hoistway, an elevator car, and a door operator carried'by said car including cam means for engaging said door to move the same, cam-means-for engaging. said hoistway, rotatable means connecting said two cam means for moving said two cam means relative to each other, andmeans mounting said rotatable means for free movement relative to said car.

5. In combination with a door for an elevator hoistway, anelevator car and a door operator carried by said car includinga door engagingmember, a hoistway engaging member, and power means connecting said two members for simultaneously moving the same in opposite directions.

6. In combination with a door for an elevat-or hoistway, an elevator car and a door operator carried by said car including ahoistway engaging member, a door engaging member and a power actuated means connecting said members for moving said holstway member into engagement with said'hatchway and for moving said door engaging members into engagement with said door, said power actuated means being movable relative to said ber into engagement with said hoistway and for moving said door engaging members into engagement with said door, said power actuated means being movable relative to said car whereby the forces exerted in opening said door are applied directly between said hoistway and said door, means for looking said door, and means interposed betweensaid hoistway engaging means and said hoistway for operating said locking means to release said door upon actuation of said hoistway engaging means.

8. In combination with a door for an elevator hoistway, an elevator car and a door operator carried by said car including a hoistwayengaging member, a door engaging member and a power actuated means connecting said members for'moving said hoistway member into engagement with said hoistway and for moving said door engaging members into engagement with-said door, said power actuated means being movable relative to said car whereby the forces exerted iii-opening said doorare applied directly between said hoistway and said door, means for locking said door, and means actuated by said hoistway engaging means when moved into engagement with saidhoistway for releasingsaid locking means.

9. In combination with a door for an elevator hoistway, an elevator car and a door operator carried by said car including a door moving cam, a hoistway engaging cam, rotatable means connecting with said door moving cam for applying power to said door, and cam means on said rotatable means for moving said hoistway engaging means into engagement with said hoistway prior to apply-- ing power to said door.,

10. In combination with adoor for an elevator hoistway, an elevator car, a door op-- therefor operable by a thrustthereon in a given plane, adoor operating engine carried by said car comprising power driven means for engaging said door lever system to produce a thrust in the said plane, and a hoistway engaging means operable to engage said door operating engine with the hoistway wall substantially in the same plane to transmit the reaction of the thrust to the hatchway wall.

12. In a device foroperating anelevator hoistway door having a system of levers therefor operable by a thrust thereon in a given plane, a door operating engine carried by said car comprising a rotatable cam member, power means for rotating said cam member, a crank on said cam member connecting with a door engaging cam shoe, a hoistway engaging cam shoe in camming engagement with said rotatable cam to engage said rotatable member with the hoistway to absorb the reactive force exerted thereby in moving said door cam shoe to operate said door.

13. An elevator door operator to be carried by an elevator car comprising a rotatable member, power means for rotating said member, a door engaging means connected with said member for reciprocatory movement upon rotation of said member to engage and move the door, a hatchway engaging means also operable upon rotation'of said member to apply the reactive forces exerted by the door engaging means to the hoistway structure, and means mounting said rotatable member for lateral movement under the influence of said door engaging means and said hoistway engaging means.

14. A door operating device to be carried by an elevator car for simultaneously operating the hoistway doors and elevator car gate of an elevator system including a power device, a rotatable member driven thereby, a hoistway door engaging means and a hoistway engaging means operable by said rotatable member to engagement with the door and the hoistway respectively, means mounting said rotatable member for movementrelativ'e to the car in the direction of movement of said engaging means, a second rotatable member also driven by said power means for engaging and operating the car gate when said second rotatable member is rotated.

15. An elevator door operator to be carried by an elevator car comprising a power device, a rotatable cam driven thereby, a doorwengaging means connected to said cam for crank I motion thereby, a hoistway engaging means arranged for camming movementby said cam, said two means being arranged on said cam in such manner that upon rotation of said cam the cam motion precedes the movement of said door engaging means." r

16. In a device for operating an elevator hoistway door having a system of levers therefor operable by a thrust thereon in a. given plane, means normally biasing said lever system to move said door to closed position, a door operating engine carried by said car comprising power driven means for engaging said door lever system to produce a thrust in the said plane, a hoistway engaging means operable to engage said door operating engine with the hoistway structure, a rotattable device driven by said engine for moving said door engaging means into engaging position and for retracting the same, said biasing means on said door maintaining the door engaged with said door engine during substantially all of the retracting movement.

17. In an elevator door operator a pair of door engaging cam shoes, a rotatable member connected to said cam shoes and operable upon rotation thereof to extend and retract said cam shoes, said rotatable member and said cam shoes being located in substantially the same vertical plane, and means mounting said cam shoes and said rotatable member on the elevator car for lateral movement relative to the car in the said vertical plane.

18. In combination with an elevator door having a pair of door operating levers movable in opposite directions to move the door, an elevator door operator comprising a pair of door engaging cam shoes, a rotatable member connected to said cam shoes and operable upon rotation thereof to extend and retract said cam shoes, said rotatable'member and said cam shoes being located in substantially the same vertical plane, and means mounting said cam shoes and said rotatable member on the elevator car for lateral movement relative to the car in the said vertical plane, said cam shoes being engageablerespectively with opposite door levers whereby the reaction of force applied to one lever is absorbed by the other lever.

Signed at Los Angeles, California, this 16th day of July, 1930.

CRANFORD P. WALKER. DANIEL A. LYON S. 

